Water heater



Dec. 12, 1944. w QHQRNE 2,364,791

WATER HEATER Filed Nov 21, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 12, 1944. w, o, HORN 2,364,791

WATER HEATER Filed Nov. 21, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 E" I E E INVENTOR Wi/hbm Q Horne Patented Dec. 12, 1944,

WATER HEATER- William 0. Home, Chicago, 111., assignor to Bheem Manufacturing Company, Richmond, Calm, a

corporation of Califo Application November 21, 1941, Serial No. 419,841

'1 Claims. (01. 122-14) The invention relates to a water heater and more particularly to the so-called domestic storage type. a a

An object of the present invention isto' provide a water heater of the character described utilizing an oil burner as a source of heatjand 4 to safeguard against flooding' of the burner. The

5 natural draftoil burnerofthe type used' in the.

wherein the float control valve, thermostatand f other accessory portions are completely concealed within the body of the jacket surrounding the water heater. a

Another object of the invention is to provide an oil burner water heater of the character de-:' scribed in which the oil burner and the float control valve are readily accessible for adjustment 0r inspection or the like and wherein either of these members may be removed'from the heater without disturbing the other. I

A further object of the invention is an oil burner water heater of the character described in which the ignition of the oil burner may be more easily and readily eflected than in constructions heretofore used.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some of which, with the foregoing, will be set forth in the following description of the preferred form of the invention which is illustrated in the drawings accompanying and forming part of the specification. It is to be understood, however, that variations in the showing made by the said drawings and description to provide the naturaldraft type. These float control valves 4 operate, as will be unders t'ood, to maintain a constant and uniform oil flow into theburne'r. and

present construction usufally consistsof a" vapor-' izing pot and carburetor having a .pluralityof openings in. the wall of the potrfor' introduction of primary air to the vaporized oil preparatory to passing .the oil and air' mixture to theburner throat for burning with secondary air added there'at. In the usual operation: of the'burner only a relatively shallow oil deposit is present in the bottom of'the burner, since the rate of vapo'rization balances the rate of oil input. In the event, however, that the burner should-fail to properly operate or the flame become extinguished, oil would continue to flow into the bot tom of the burner and eventually reach and overw flow through the primary air openings;v thus escaping the burnerand depositing upon the floor and surrounding area. To prevent such an emergency overflow of oil from the burner, an oil float control valve is provided which operatesto may be adopted within the scope of the'invention heater.

Figure 3 is a plan'cross-sectional view of the line 33 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is an enlarged perspective view of an insulation shield used in the base construction of the heater.

water heater taken substantially on the plane of Figure 5 is a fragmentary side elevation of the supporting means for the oil burner.

Figure-6 is a cross-sectional view showing the lighter door construction and taken substantially on the plane of line li6 of Figure 5.

The concealing of the auxiliary controls of an oil burner water heater within the body of such heater presents special problems, particularly in connection with the automatic safety float control valve customarily used with oilbumers of automatically shutoff=the oil flow when the oil reaches a predetermined maximum depth in the burner.

To so operate, the float control valve need 'be mounted in substantially horizontalrelation to the burner so that a the 'oil builds up in the burner, it also builds up in the float con-' trol valve, thelatter functioning toshut' off the oil flow by a trip mechanism released by a float riding the oil levelin the float control valve mechanism.

age tank. Since an oil burner is of considerable size and needs be mounted approximately centrally under the bottom ofthe water tank, it will be seen that if the float control valve is to be mounted within the confines .of the "unit and at the same time in side-by-side relation to the burner at the same elevation therewith, the float control valve will of necessity be positioned very close to the burner. Such proximity of these units would ordinarily place the float control valve in a zone of relatively high temperature and in fact far higher than at which th same could be safely operated due to the boiling point and flash point of the 'oil, and heat expansion of the rather delicate control elementsof the safety control valve. To obviate this difliculty and as a principal feature of the, present invention,

I provide a separate heat insulated, air coo compartment for the float control valve which operates to effectively shield from the latter the intense heat radiated from the walls of the oil burner and the surrounding walls of the base of the heater. By the use of such compartment, the float control valve may be located very close to the oil burner and sufllciently close thereto to enable the inclusion of the float control valve within the body of the heater unit without enlarging the latter over an eflicient commercial size to accommodate such inclusion.

With reference to the accompanying drawings, the water heater of the present invention includes a vertically elongated water tank 1, here of cylindrical form and having appropriate hot and cold water pipe connections 8 and 8 connected thereto at the top wall H of the tank, and provided with a central flue |2 extending from above the top wall II to below the bottom wall I3 of the tank. The tank is also desirably provided with a discharge spud l adjacent the bottom wall l3, see Figure 2, for connection of a drain fitting, not shown. The tank is supported in vertical position by a base construction including a base ring l4 supported in elevated position by a plurality of feet l6 and upon which is carried a plurality of uprights or standards I! which are welded or otherwise secured to the side wall |8 of the tank adjacent the bottom wall l3.

Surrounding the tank wall I8 and covering the tank top wall II and extending over the full vertical height of the tank to the base ring I4, is an insulation jacket l9 composed in part of a casing 2| surrounding the side wall |8 of the tank in spaced relation to define an annular chamber 22 therebetween which is filled with a suitable heat insulation material 23, such as as-.

bestos, rock wool, glass wool or the like. Thus the insulation jacket and particularly the outer casing 2| extends down below the bottom wall l3 so as to define therebelow a burner compartment or space 24. Mounted in this space directly under the lower end 28 of the flue and in registration therewith is an oil burner 21 of the natural draft type includin as aforementioned a perforated open top pct 28 for receipt and vaporization of oil introduced into the burner by means of an inlet conduit 29 piercing the side wall of th pot adjacent the bottom of the pot. Mounted across the top of the pot is a burner ring 3| having a central burner opening or throat 32 and which is supported on the lower end of the flue with the throat 32 in registration therewith by means of a plurality of bayonet lugs 33 on th top of the burner ring 3| which detachably engage a plurality of pins 34 secured to and projecting outwardly from the flue end 25. A safety overflow pan 35 is secured across the bottom and partially up the sides of the burner pot 28 so as to extend the overflow level of the pot above the lower row of primary air openings 31 in the pot.

Access to the burner may be had by way of an opening 38 formed in the casing 2| below the bottom wall |3 of the tank and at the level of the burner and this opening 38 is of suflicient size to permit the insertion and removal of the burner therethrough. A closure 39, here of segmental cylindrical sheet metal form is provided for the opening 38 and is formed with a parametric flange 4| adapted to slidably telescope into a parametric flange 42 provided by the casin 2| around the opening 38. This closure may be conveniently moved to and from its seated position in the opening by means of knobs or handles 43 at the outer side thereof. Preferably the closure is formed with a plurality of air openings 44 for promoting air circulation through the burner compartment.

As an important feature of the present construction, I provide for the simple and ready ignition of the burner by way of a lighter opening 46 provided in the lower end 26 of the flue immediately in front of the casing opening 38 and by means of which a match or other ignited mass may be easily dropped into the bottom of the burner without extinguishment of the flame by drafts set up within the burner and flue. This opening is normally closed by a hinged door 41 mounted on the lower end 26 of the flue across the opening 46.

As above noted, I incorporate in the unit an automatic safety flow control valve mechanism 48 which is mounted within the confines of the casing 2| below the bottom wall l3 0f the heater at approximately the same elevation as the bumer 21. The unit here illustrated is of the type that functions to maintain a uniform flow of oil to the burner and to automatically shut off such flow upon building up of the oil level within the burner to a predetermined depth and is further equipped with a thermostatic control operated by a thermal bulb 48, here clamped onto the side wall l8 of the tank to render the latter responsive to the temperature of the water in the tank. As an important feature of the present invention and as above noted, this float control valve is positioned in a separate compartment 5| recessed within the outer casing 2| of the unit so as to project into the space 24 below the tank bottom wall. The compartment is here defined in part by a heat insulation shield 52, best shown in Figures 3 and 4, and which extends across circumferentially spaced points of the casing 2| and cooperates therewith to provide the compartment. The shield member is composed of a pair of horizontally spaced vertically extending walls 53 and 54 which provide therebetween a space for insulation material 56 such as asbestos, rock wool, glass wool or the like and which space is capped by a head wall 51 mounted across the upper ends of walls 53 and 54 and is closed at the bottom by the base ring l4. The casing 2| is provided at the compartment 52 with an opening 58, here extending circumferentially and vertically for the full circumferential and vertical dimension of the shield 52 and is bounded by inturned flanges 59 to which the side edges 8| of the shield walls 53 and 54 are secured. As will be seen from Figures 3 and 4, the circumferentially spaced ends 5| of the shield walls 53 and 54 are joined together at the flanges 59 and extend inwardly from these ends in a divergent fashion to provide the insulation space therebetween. The casing opening 58 registering with the valve compartment 5| is normally closed by a removable door 62 which is preferably of the same general size, shape and construction as the door 39 covering the burner opening 38, and as an important feature of the construction of this door, the same is provided with a plurality of air openings 53 for promoting circulation of cool air through the compartment for removal of heat therein passed through the insulation shield 52. Preferably the door or closure 62 is of thin wall metal construction having a relatively large area whereby the same is eifective to radiate any excess heat in the compartment. As will be seen from Figure 2, the base ring |4 defines the bottom of this compartment and the intake and vbase ring l4.

discharge oil connections 84 and S8 for the float control valve are made through openings in the Preferably these openings are somewhat larger than the conduits passing therethrough so as to leave clearance for passage or air up through the compartment.

I claim:

1. A domestic storage type water heater comprising, an elongated up-ended water tank, an insulation Jacket corresponding in form to and surrounding said tank, an oil burner and a float control valve mounted in side-by-side horizontally spaced relation under said tank and within the transverse dimension or said tank and jacket, and partition means defining a compartment close to said oil burner and including heat in- Sulation means mounted between said burner and float control valve.

2. A domestic storage type water heater comprising, an elongated up-ended water tank, a casing surrounding said tankin spaced relation and extending below the bottom of said tank to define a burner space thereunder, an oil burner mounted in said space, means defining a closed compartment recessed from the side of said casing into said space, and a float control valve mounted in said compartment.

3. A domestic storage type water heater comprising, an elongated up-ended water tank, a casing surrounding said tank in spaced relation and extending below the bottom of said tank to define a burner space thereunder, an oil burner mounted in said space, means defining a compartment recessed from the side 01' said casing into said space and closed from the portion occupied by the burner, a float control valvemounted in said compartment, and cool air circulating means for said compartment.

4. A domestic storage type water heater com-' prising, an elongated up-ended water-tank, a casing corresponding in form and surrounding said tank in spaced relation and extending below the bottom of said tank, an oil burner mounted 5. A domestic storage type water heater comprising, an elongated up-ended water tank, a casing surrounding said tank in spaced relation and extending below the bottom of said tank, an oil burner mounted under the bottom of said tank, a float control valve positioned adjacent said oil burner in substantially horizontal relation thereto and within the confines of said casing below said tank bottom, heat insulation means mounted between and defining separate compartments for said burner and said float control valve, and a pair of separate access means in said casing below said tank bottom one for the burner and the other for the valve through which saidburner and said float control valve may be individually inserted or removed without disturbing the other.

6. A domestic storage type water heater comprising, an elongated up-ended water tank, a casing surrounding said tank. in spaced relation and extending below the bottom of said tank, an oil burner mounted under the bottom of said tank, a float control valve positioned adjacent said oil burner in substantially horizontal relation thereto and within the confines 01' said casing below said tank bottom, heat insulation means mounted between said burner and said float control valve and confining the burner and valve to separate chambers, a pair of separate access means in said casing below said tank bottom communicating with the separate chambers and through which said burner and said float control valve may be individually inserted or removed without disturbing the other, and separate closure means for each of said access means.

'l. A water heater comprising, a water tank, a casing surrounding said tank in spaced relation and extending below the bottom wall 01' said tank, a flue pipe extending through said tank and having a portion depending from said tank bottom wall within the confines of said casing,

an oil burner mounted under said fiue with the burner throat of said opening in registration with below the bottom or said tank within said casing,

' float control valve, said casing being formed with an opening at said compartment, and a closure for said opening provided with perforations to prosaid flue portion, said casing being formed with an opening of a size and-position permitting insertion and removal 01' said burner therethrough, a closure for said opening, said flue portion being provided with a lighter opening dimote air circulation through said compartment rectly in front of said casing opening and between said throat and the bottom wall of said tank, and a closure removably covering said lighter opening.

WILLIAM O. HORNE. 

